Love The Way You Lie
by TeamZaileyXD
Summary: Zack's life is going nowhere until he bumps into Bailey. He's loves the idea of a life&future with her, & is not going to let go of that idea no matter what happens... "Just gonna stand there & hear me cry, that's alright becaue I love the way you lie..."


_Right before I'm about to drown,_

_She resuscitates me._

_She... hates me..._

...

He'd lived in the finest hotel in the world, traveled the globe on the finest cruise ship... now what?

That's the motto he allowed himself to follow. He allowed himself to believe...

It's the reason he's 21, out of school, and going no where. No college. No girlfriend. No life.

He sat in the scratch, rusty, falling apart lawn chair that he'd placed on the roof ages ago... it was worn out from all the sleep-less nights he'd spent sitting in it. Next to it was an empty container that at one point, contained a six-pack of beer. He looks down at the dimly lit street below, closing his eyes to be able to hear the sounds of the traffic below. It's around 9... pretty early. It means he's only got a long night ahead.

He gets hungry, so eventually, Zack decides to go back down into his apartment, and search for dinner. He's feeling "Frosted Flakes" for dinner again. Why not? There's no one to tell him to wait to eat cereal for breakfast. He gets to make the shots now.

He always looked forward to independence- to freedom- and now that he had it, he realized it wasn't so exciting after all. There's nothing fun about decision making because there's always the fear of making the wrong decision.

He'd made bad choices. There was no denying it. But you can't go back. You can't change the past. You can only focus on the present.

He opens up the molding fridge. Empty.

It's his own fault. He hadn't gotten around to going to the grocery store, probably because he was running low on cash. That's cause he's currently residing in the "unemployed" department.

He exits the apartment complex, zipping up his jacket and sliding his hood over his head. No car. Can't afford it. Looks like he's walking the two mile walk to the grocery store.

He arrives, and goes to the third aisle. The cereal aisle. He searches, finally finding the box he's looking for. He looks to his left, to his right. No one's looking. He lifts up the corner of his jacket, sliding the box underneath. If he walks slowly- hunched over- clenching his stomach- maybe no one will notice. Maybe no one will care to ask if he's okay-

He's almost there. Just ten more yards, and he's going to be out of the grocery store- home bound-

"You going to pay for that?" a voice asks.

He sighs. "Uh... yeah..." he says, keeping his eyes low and walking back to the cashier. "I was just- uh- trying to find the register..."

"It's kinda hard to miss..." the cashier replies.

He fishes the last bit of cash he has stored up out of his now empty wallet, and hands it to the cashier. It's the first time he sees her face.

"Woah- wait a second-" he says. "Bailey Pickett?"

She looks up, meeting his gaze. "Zack Martin..." she says, smiling. "I should've known- only you would be cheap enough to steal a box of Frosted Flakes..."

"What can I say? They're grrreeaat!" he says, playing a cheesy joke. She laughs anyways.

"How's Cody doing?" Zack asks, since he hasn't talked to his brother in a few years.

"Oh... uh... actually... things between us sort of fell apart..."

It's at that moment that Zack notices that the engagement ring that once wrapped around her finger is now gone. He nods, understanding. It was over.

She looks up at him, smiling slightly. "Here's your change..."

"Thanks..."

"So- how's life?"

He chuckles softly. "Life? You mean the job-less, friend-less, stupid messed up life I'm stuck with? I guess you can say it sucks..."

She frowns sympathetically.

"Listen-" he says. "I'm in the mood for a smoothie- what about you?"

She laughs. "After having that horrible job, you still like smoothies?"

He laughs back, remembering the job on the S.S. Tipton. "I know, I know... but... what can I say? They're pretty good..."

She smiles.

"Well, I'd love to catch up some time... maybe over a few smoothies..." he says.

"My shift is over-" she pauses, looking at her watch. "Now!"

"Awesome! Let's go!"

"Great... wait here, I'll go clock out..." she says, smiling and running to the back of the store.

...

Bailey sips on her banana smoothie, but Zack's more of a strawberry person. They sit across from each other, and sit in silence for a few seconds, enjoying their drinks. Finally, Zack speaks up.

"Okay. It's killing me. What happened with Cody?"

She laughs, almost choking on her smoothie. "You won't believe me if I tell you-"

"Try me-"

"Remember London?"

"Tipton?"

"Yeah... I found out that all his 'business trips' were to go see her..."

"Wait, wait wait," he laughed. "Cody and- London?"

"I know..." she says, laughing.

"You holding up okay?"

She frowns, and he could see the way her eyes stop shining that she's not...

"I don't know..." she admits. "I miss him. I really do... but... what can I do? The past is the past-"

"You can only focus on the present..." Zack finishes her sentence. "Yeah. Tell me about it..."

"Well wait a minute- what about Maya? You two seemed so in love when we graduated-"

"Ah, she broke up with me right before she left for Chaz. Haven't spoken to her since..."

Bailey sighs. "I'm sorry-"

He shrugs. "Not your fault..."

She nods. "Thanks for the smoothie," she fakes a smile, standing up.

"Bailey?"

"Yeah?"

"I hope you realize that it's Cody's loss..."

She smiles, for real this time. "That's the sweetest thing anyone has said to me in a long, long time."

"If you ever get a day where you're off work- why don't you stop by my place?"

"That would be great- if I knew where you lived-"

"The apartment complex on 17th Street. Apartment number 17..."

"The apartment complex on 17th Street. Apartment number 17... got it." Another smile creeps onto her face. "I'll catch you around, Zack."

He just grins, watching her as she walks out of the smoothie shop.

**...**

So

1) I started writing in a new format. (present tense... dun dun dunnn...)

2) I have NO idea where I'm going with this story...

So, comment.

If you haven't caught on, this is a Zailey story.

WARNING: There is going to be some sort of abuse later on. I've already planned that out. That's the only reason it's rated T.

Comment?

Love always...


End file.
